


Way of the Stars

by VoidRune



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, It started as a happy au but isn't that happy anymore, It's hard to write Vani without swearing, There will eventually be more characters, also
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-07
Updated: 2016-05-10
Packaged: 2018-06-06 20:30:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,827
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6768850
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VoidRune/pseuds/VoidRune
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sometimes, the stars arrange different paths for the same people, this is one of them. Taken away from their islands at a very young age, Sora and Riku found themselves growing under the care of some new Keyblade Masters during times of peace. </p>
<p>However, destiny is never left to chance, and the calm before the storm is finally over.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

Riku should have called Sora’s attention. The sun had almost disappeared already, and the cold sea breeze was probably going to make them sick. Besides, they had been playing on the beach the whole day and had ended up pretty tired. But there they were, still standing before the ocean.

The tide licked their feet and washed away the sand castle their had spent a few hours building. Riku opened his mouth to suggest going home, but something drawn his attention. He looked up, feeling a strange pressure on his chest.

First, a star disappeared. Then another, and another. He sought his friend’s hand; if he was worried, he could only imagine what the younger boy was feeling. Coming from the horizon, a wave of blackness was slowly devouring the lights scattered across the sky. 

“Sora… I think we should go home.”

The brunette didn’t reply right away, making Riku worried. He looked for his friend, as if to confirm he was still there with him. As much as he could see Sora, he couldn’t shake off the feeling that his friend wasn’t totally there.

“Are you scared?” Riku asked quietly.

Sora nodded, also looking up. He held the other’s hand tighter. “Yeah…”

“We don’t have to stay here. We can go inside.” 

“I don’t know…” Sora finally looked at his friend, seeming smaller than he already was. “But it’s like there’s something I need to do…”

“Hum… Maybe someone out there needs your help.” Riku made a brief pause, looking up again. “Y’know, in one of the many worlds out there.”

“But what can I do?”

“Hum…” Riku looked forward, noticing how the blackness had started to take away the sea. “I’m sure you’ll understand if you open your heart.”

“You sure say some strange stuff some times.”

“You too.” Riku shifted his weight from a foot to another. The sand didn’t feel that firm anymore. 

“Okay, I’ll try!” Sora smiled, before closing his eyes, facing the sea once more. 

Riku took the moment to look again at what was happening. The blackness eating away the sky was even bigger now, closing in to the town behind them. He couldn’t let himself show that he was scared. He had to be there to protect his friend, no matter what, so he wouldn’t run while Sora was still there.

The blackness wasn’t what scared him. For some reason, it didn’t. What scared him the most was the idea of it hurting Sora. 

That was the reason why he couldn’t just go into that blackness as some part of him wanted. He turned to Sora; it was that feeling again. It was like his friends was leaving him behind, even though Sora hadn’t moved at all. He was going somewhere Riku couldn’t follow. 

The town disappeared behind them. There was no more sea, no more wind. It didn’t feel as bad as he had first thought it would be, but Sora’s hand was shaking. Riku felt he throat dry; if Sora was scared he had to protect him somehow, even if he didn’t know what he could do. 

He hugged Sora, and the brightest light he had ever seem was the last memory he had of that surreal night.


	2. Yet another morning

The sun was raising in the horizon, letting the stars fade into the morning sky. There were a few clouds here and there, but they were few, only adding to the spectacle. The first winds of winter were already blowing, even if only gently, caressing the precious land in the realm in between. The river and the birds were the only thing to be heard in that very small world. 

As Master Aqua always said, the first hours of the day were the best for meditation. Sora and his teacher sat outside, near the star gazing spot. Legs crossed, perfect posture and mind at peace… It had become routine after sometime, at least for the days master and apprentice would spent alone in the castle they called home.  


Sora was still annoyed; he felt as if he hadn’t perfected the spiritual part yet. Some of that stuff was way too complex, so asking his master would just overload his brain again. He bit his inner cheek, inclining his head a bit to the side.

“Can’t focus?” The keyblade master asked, without even opening her eyes.

“That’s not it.” Sora pouted, stretching his arms forward. 

“Is there something bothering you, then?” Aqua got up, in no hurry whatsoever. There was hint of worry in her tone, but it held its calming effect. 

“I guess…” The apprentice followed his master, starting the regular stretching exercises. “Can we skip meditation today? Just for today?” 

“And here I thought you were starting to like it.” She tilted her head to the side, with a playful smile. 

“I do like it!” Sora scratched the back of his head. “Just don’t really want right now.”

“Alright, then… When are you going to show me that spell you were working on?” 

“Er, hum…” The boy looked away, with the guiltiest smile on his face. “It’s not ready yet, can’t we just have breakfast before starting training?” 

“Let me guess, you took a nap while you should be working on your spell.” The master raised an eyebrow. 

“Maybe.” He looked away, as if searching for a better excuse. “It was late, and we had practiced magic the whole day!”

“Sure, I guess you really need someone on your ear to get anything done.”

“Hey! That’s not true!” He puffed, as his master messed with his already messy hair.

“Alright, how about you make breakfast, then?” She joked, walking past Sora and slowly heading back to the castle.

“If you don’t mind sandwiches again.” The apprentice shrugged, following her, with his hand on the back of his head, as she nodded.

They weren’t that far off from the main building in the small world, but the walk back wasn’t hurried, so they could still enjoy the outside for a while longer. Sora went a few steps behind, looking around and letting his mind wonder around. A few years ago, the fact that there were only two of them at the Land of Departure would have bothered him, and yet it was so often that wasn’t even problem anymore. 

Still, he looked at the sky. Perhaps, as much as he loved his master, missing his friends was what was making him uneasy. He sighed, his eyes running through the clouds. 

A small glean shone in the distance, and a big smile appeared in Sora’s face. The slow pace was left behind as the boy took off running toward the front of castle. Even if they would always train in the back, the bizarre architecture would allow for tons of shortcuts, all of which the apprentice had learned about long ago.  


He could see the white portal of the Lanes Between open above the entrance and two keyblade gliders fly out of it at top speed. Sora tried to keep them in sight as he rushed to the usual landing spot. The riders, protected by their armors, maneuvered their jet ski-like gliders around, reducing speed until they were close enough to the ground to jump. 

Aqua gave up her plans for the day.

Sora waved as Master Terra and Riku deactivated their armors and recalled their keyblades. Aqua giggled, appearing from the same shortcut and watching her apprentice laziness melt into the same enthusiasm he always had when those two came back from their training travels. 

“Hey- Wait, what happened?” Sora greeted, but soon turned his attention to the white-haired apprentice. Aqua tilted her head and Terra grinned. 

Riku only sighed at first. His dark blue hakama was looking a lot more like his master’s from the sheer amount of dry mud on it. There wasn’t even a glimmer of the silver-like shoes of his armor, and not even the shoulder piece had been spared. His short ponytail was messy and his white hair full of leaves and branches. Sora could barely hold in the laugher. 

“Had to deal with some monkeys. Think you could have done better?” Riku teased, putting one arm around Sora and messing with his already messy hair. 

“Technically, they are gorillas,” Terra corrected, crossing his arms and letting out a small laugh, before noticing the blue-haired woman approaching them, “Hi there. I hope we didn’t interrupt your morning exercises.” 

“Not really.” She smiled, watching Sora trying to escaped Riku’s grip, but the older apprentice seemed really keen in making the other as dirty as he was. “Just in time for breakfast, actually.” 

“Great, I can make us something to eat then,” the brown-haired master suggested, as the two teenagers were laughing and rolling on the ground. 

Master Aqua turned to the apprentices, as Riku had apparently won accomplished his objective. “Sora, you escaped the kitchen today. Let’s go inside.” 

“Yeah,” Riku got up, in mid of the fading laugher, “I gotta take a bath.” He offered his hand to help Sora, who took it pouting.

“Now I gotta too!” 

“Well, not my fault.” The white-haired apprentice smirked, as the masters started heading inside.

 

Riku really appreciated when they could eat something that wasn’t improvised, so the smell of Master Terra’s pancakes was more than welcome. Being home was great, actually, even if he loved traveling around. Still, bragging about his adventures to Sora, who even after his travels with Ventus was still as easily impressed as ever, was the best part of it all. 

By the time both of them got to the kitchen, Aqua and Terra were already sitting at the dining table, and a pretty simple breakfast before them. Sora didn’t lose any time in takin his seat at Aqua’s side, but Riku still looked around the other empty seats. 

“Isn’t Ven at home?” he asked, pulling the chair near the other apprentice for himself.

“He left yesterday morning.” Aqua passed a plate to each of them. 

“Yeah, didn’t you run into him?” Sora was already grabbing an extra pancake to himself. “He still gotta give my headphones back.”

“Then he probably stopped by Radiant Garden and decided to stay for the night.” Terra sighed, trying to not worry much. 

“So… Terra and I were talking earlier…” Aqua changed the subject, getting the full attention of both apprentices, “You two have been working really hard lately. Maybe you could use a day off or two.” 

The two apprentices exchanged a quick glance, with silly smiles appearing on their faces before Terra could continue.

“Now, don’t spend this whole time sparring. We don’t want you overwork yourselves.” 

“Or get carried away.” Aqua sighed. “You should go to your homeworld, or have some fun at Disney Town.”

The boys nodded and started eating their breakfast as quick as possible. Sora didn’t really need to ask to be sure Riku already had a plan for what they would be doing with the rest of the day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the comments! I've got a lot planned for this AU~  
> There was a time skip between the prologue and now, but I may also post a few one-shots about Sora and Riku growing up (I have one written, actually) This would be around the time of the begining of KH1, and I promise things will get more interesting in the next chapter~


End file.
